FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS MEDICAL RESOURCES AND EDUCATIONAL-METHODS IN A SAUDI MEDICAL-SCHOOL

Medical colleges are using various teaching methods and educational re sources in education. In order to explore the attitude of medical stud ents towards these educational methods and resources and the factors p laying a major role in their use in a medical school in an Arabic cult ure, a self answered questionnaire was directed to 283 medical student s in their clinical years. Questions on the possible factors which aff ect the attendance and the use of these education resources were also included. Traditional methods of teaching, lectures, and clinical roun ds were found to be the backbone of the educational process in this co llege. Attendance to lectures was related to both quality of subjects and to the lecturer, emphasizing the importance of a good lecture and lecturer. Clinical bedside teaching was found to be a popular and effe ctive way of teaching medical knowledge, skill, and patient interactio ns to medical students. The library in this college was the least used resource and student appreciation of its importance was very low. Gen eral recommendations are to reduce dependence on lectures gradually in clinical years and to introduce new methods of clinical teaching.